Georgia reacts to the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran

Caption

Iranian-Americans celebrated the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and remembered protestors killed in Iran during a demonstration on the Atlanta Beltline Sunday.

Credit: Sarah Kallis/GPB News

U.S. lawmakers from Georgia will vote on a congressional war powers resolution this week that would restrain President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran without congressional approval.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said Trump shouldn’t have acted without the consent of Congress.

“The president has launched this regime change war without an explanation to the American people, without clearly stated objectives, without evidence of an imminent threat," he said to reporters at the state Capitol on Monday. 

Sen. Raphael Warnock shared similar concerns to Ossoff at an event in Social Circle on Monday. 

"The president is behaving illegally," Warnock said. "The declaration of war is clearly in the hands of Congress. And I'm calling it war because of what we're witnessing and because of the President's own words. And it's clear to me that this president needs some guardrails."

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who is challenging Ossoff for his Senate seat, said Trump acted within the law when authorizing the strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

“The world is safer today than it was two days ago — no question about it," he said at the state Capitol on Monday. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."

The president can authorize some military action without congressional approval, but Congress is the only branch of government that can declare war. Trump said the strikes could last several weeks, and more U.S. service members could be injured or killed. Four U.S. service members have been killed already. 

Following this weekend's U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, people gathered along the Beltline in Atlanta on Sunday to react to the death of Khamenei. 

Batool Zamani, president of the Iranian American community of Georgia, said the ayatollah's death is just the first step towards a free Iran.

 "The head of the snake has been smashed," she said. "Khameniei is gone, but the regime of Iran has not been toppled."

Zamani said that the people of Iran need to take control of the Iranian government, and she does not support long-term U.S. intervention.

Photos of some of the the protesters killed in Iran were placed along walkway at the demonstration. 

Organizers say more rallies are planned for the coming weeks.